Asus 680i, P5N32-E Sli Results.

[alexanderhuzar]

I thought enabling OS/2 was if your running with more than 64 mb of ram? I guess I'm completely wrong and confused for that area. il go ahead and put it back to [Non-OS2] then. In What scenario would I want to enable OS/2 for then? Please explain! : (

According to wikipedia:

"OS/2 is a computer operating system, initially created by Microsoft and IBM, then later developed by IBM exclusively. The name stands for "Operating System/2", because it was introduced as the preferred operating system for IBM's "Personal System/2 (PS/2)" line of second-generation Personal Computers. OS/2 is no longer marketed by IBM, and IBM standard support for OS/2 was discontinued on December 31, 2006."

So if you're not using OS/2, then turn off the setting in the BIOS.

No the board doesnt correctly detect the corsair timings. It picks up 5-4-4-17 2T in CPUZ so Im gonna manually change it to what they say which is 5-5-5-12 (As for 2T it sais nothing about that so Il just leave it at auto which it was already at 2T). Do you think I should just manually set the command rate then? As for the voltage I already adjusted it as you said. I put 2.050v and the Monitor in the BIOS now shows it fluctuating from 2.09v to 2.11v but in PC probe it just gives a stable 2.10v and it rarely goes to 2.11v.

I have a pair of Corsair's. The'yre supposed to be 5-5-5-12-1T @ 1.9v, but the BIOS reports them as 5-5-5-18-2T @ 1.85v. I had an nForce 4 chipset-based motherboard not too long ago that told me the same thing. I think it might be something to with the fact that my RAM isn't on the QVL.

The "command rate" setting of "1T" resulted in my nForce4 motherboard not booting, but it works perfectly fine with the P5N32-E SLI.

If you get the chance, try testing your RAM inside a friend's computer.

[alexanderhuzar]

I dont think you understand how happy you just got me.. I just finished flashing the BIOS to 1103 and when it restarted with the BIOS still sluggish. I was so sad though until I read your post lol. So your saying its the BIOS of the video card right? Well if thats the case I dont see why I should downgrade the BIOS of the video card. Im gonna go ahead and put the other 512 stick for dual channel mode. I hope i get no BSOD like I did before. Btw is there anything else other than the timings and the memory voltage that I should manually set for the memory ? Thanks again!

The "sluggish" BIOS will do absolutely nothing to hinder your performance in windows games and applications. I would NOT recommend flashing the video card's BIOS in an attempt to get rid of this unless you read up somewhere that doing this is guaranteed to work.

Ooops! I made a mistake, I actually never enabled this, I got this confused with the fact that it was "Plug and Play O/S" that I had enabled.

This is actually a useful setting. If you have problems with IRQ assignments, you can set this to "disabled" to let your BIOS manage the IRQ assignments for hardware devices.

[alexanderhuzar]

I forgot to say that it would make your life so much easier if you had acess to a computer that is known to work fine that you can use to test your RAM, CPU, etc. on. Also you can borrow some RAM that is known to work on another computer and plug it into your motherboard to perform a diagnosis.

Ok it's 9 am. I have to catch up on lost sleep LOL.

[Leeghoofd]

well after 0701 or so ( don't exactly recall it ) it was better...

So the rig is up and running now with 2-3-4 dimms ?

[shankstas]

I'm assuming you're new. There's always a notch on every LGA775-socket CPU. This is so that you can only put it in one way. It's a fool-resistant method of inserting the CPU into the socket.

lol no no, i know that. The scratched part is actually near the CPU notch towards the middle edge though.. Where the green seemed to be picked off and its yellowish ; / But then again its only about .1 to .2 mm

I have my Enermax Galaxy 1000W hooked up with a full 8 pins. I haven't experimented with only 4.

Hmmm.. Im not sure whether I should plug in the 8 pin then.. I mean if it was made for Xeons/Opterons I dont see why I should for the Dual Core.. Everything has been running pretty stable so far.

If you shake things hard enough, I'm sure there will be a point that something will begin to rattle. LOL. Umm, but seriously if it sounds like there's something broken inside making it's way into different parts of the CD-ROM drive then that's not good, but it it just sounds like a loose part then don't worry. It's probably just the cap that holds the CD against the motor. Some companies still use this method to hold CD's in place and the cap that holds them is usually endowed with a certain degree of free movement and will sounds like a rattle if you shake the CD-ROM.

Ahhh ok ... I didnt rattle it though hehe, all i did was turn it upside down/ side to side very slowly and I could hear something moving around.. I also opened the tray and tried to see if i could see anything moving around in there but I couldnt see it at all. Regardless Ill go ahead and ask newegg if the lite on's rattle just to be sure then.

"Hibernation" is not "suspend". Hibernation dumps your memory into the hyberfil.sys (or whatever the name is) file and turns off the computer so the next time you turn it on it will be in the exact same state as last time. Suspend powers down hardware and/or places them in a state of lower power usage. You can change the level of suspend in the BIOS, and the delay untill your computer enters suspend mode can be set in either the BIOS, or overriden with the control panel power settings.

I have suspend disabled in windows. I only have the monitor to shut off after 10 min and then Hibernation to activate in 15 min. And I also put the power button to go into hibernation when I press it. Maybe this could have been a BIOS issue as well? Il go ahead and put it into Hibernation now that I flashed it. Hopefully it wont turn on again on its own.

Try installing the nForce drivers and do the test again.

The tests I ran for Quicktech and PC-Check werent in Windows it was in DOS mode.

I forgot to say that it would make your life so much easier if you had acess to a computer that is known to work fine that you can use to test your RAM, CPU, etc. on. Also you can borrow some RAM that is known to work on another computer and plug it into your motherboard to perform a diagnosis.

Ok it's 9 am. I have to catch up on lost sleep LOL.

I do have, unfortunately its a motherboard with an AGP slot.. and DDR slots lol. This is my first time owning DDR2 and PCI-E based motherboard etc. As for my friends, there all running agp/ddr since all they do is play DOTA and WoW, so I have no one to turn to so I can test individual parts lol. The only reason I upgraded was because my PC finally died out RIP 2001-2007 lol. I had an FIC-AD11 motherboard (1st motherboard to support DDR!! yay ) with a 1.3 thunderbird and 1 gb of ram. I never overclocked it either. I just wanted it to last as long as possible. Finally the mb just went bye bye and it gave me the reason to upgrade to the p5n32-e SLI mb etc!

well after 0701 or so ( don't exactly recall it ) it was better...

So the rig is up and running now with 2-3-4 dimms ?

Not yet, Im gonna install the 3 dimms that work since i know my 4th one isnt working. Then il test out the other channel as well. Il keep updating as soon as possible.

Btw, Thanks so much for all the help!!

[alexanderhuzar]

lol no no, i know that. The scratched part is actually near the CPU notch towards the middle edge though.. Where the green seemed to be picked off and its yellowish ; / But then again its only about .1 to .2 mm

This is what a CPU should look like (except for the text in the middle which was photoshopped in).

Hmmm.. Im not sure whether I should plug in the 8 pin then.. I mean if it was made for Xeons/Opterons I dont see why I should for the Dual Core.. Everything has been running pretty stable so far.

I have all 8 pins being fed power. I don't know if 4 of them are actually using that power, but it's perfectly fine on my system.

Ahhh ok ... I didnt rattle it though hehe, all i did was turn it upside down/ side to side very slowly and I could hear something moving around.. I also opened the tray and tried to see if i could see anything moving around in there but I couldnt see it at all. Regardless Ill go ahead and ask newegg if the lite on's rattle just to be sure then.

Yeah stuff moving around is a bad thing.

I have suspend disabled in windows. I only have the monitor to shut off after 10 min and then Hibernation to activate in 15 min. And I also put the power button to go into hibernation when I press it. Maybe this could have been a BIOS issue as well? Il go ahead and put it into Hibernation now that I flashed it. Hopefully it wont turn on again on its own.

I never did like hibernation. I tried it when I had windows 2000, but I noticed that a regular startup was only like 5 seconds slower than a resume from hibernation. I haven't used hibernation or suspend mode ever since.

The tests I ran for Quicktech and PC-Check werent in Windows it was in DOS mode.

Try using "Ultimate Boot CD" http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/. It has a built-in prime95, memtest, and a whole wad of other extremely useful things.

Im gonna install the 3 dimms that work since i know my 4th one isnt working. Then il test out the other channel as well. Il keep updating as soon as possible.

Try testing one DIMM at a time in each memory socket. Then try 2 DIMMS and do every combination possible. After than move on to 3.

[treatmentx]

New BIOS, 1203

Anyone know more details other than what's listed?

Also, I have always thought you need to put CPU VTT at 1.55v (max), it doesn't affect idle/load temps, helps stability at upper end of overclocking.

And one more note, 4 sticks of RAM puts ALOT of stress on the Northbridge, do you know your temps? voltage?

[Don_Dan]

I run 4 sticks of RAM at DDR2-800 and 5-5-5-15 2T, voltage on the NB is 1.25 volts and the Northbridge gets really really hot. The computer even shut down itself three or four times in the last week when it was running at 90% load and it was only warm outside.
Maybe I should get watercooling...

Oh, temps when it shut down itself is 36 degrees celcius in pc probe. I think my heatsink is mounted very badly, but I did not dare to check it...

[NoSoMo]

I keep hearing about 4 modules this and that. I have 4 modules and have had absolutely no issue what so ever. P5N32-e, e6600 @ 1600FSB / 3.2Ghz

2GB


4GB

[shankstas]

This is what a CPU should look like (except for the text in the middle which was photoshopped in).

Where the arrow is pointing to, thats where the scratch is on the processor to the point that you can see the yellow on it :p.. Not sure if im explaining it right.. Either way, I left Orthos running the whole night and OCCT and got no errors at all.

Yeah stuff moving around is a bad thing.

It works though and I have 1 year to RMA it so before the last 2 months are up Il just go ahead and RMA it.

I never did like hibernation. I tried it when I had windows 2000, but I noticed that a regular startup was only like 5 seconds slower than a resume from hibernation. I haven't used hibernation or suspend mode ever since.

Well for me I usually have alot of programs loading during start up which slows my boot process so I really see how much faster Hibernation is for me. Not sure if youve tried it lately but you should try it on your current config. Other than that I really like it because if im running alot of app's and I need to leave my computer I can just shut it down and know it will be there when I come back plus it helps me save money on the electricity bill.

Try testing one DIMM at a time in each memory socket. Then try 2 DIMMS and do every combination possible. After than move on to 3.

I did every combination possible and everything is working perfect. My system doesnt shut down or Blue screen or anything.. Im so happy! yay!! As for the bad stick of ram I already RMA'd it.

Thanks again everyone on this forum really helped me alot!

[The0men]

yes I bought this board.

More Notes.

running 1T with this board is exceptionally easy.
I can run 1T up to 900 mhz without much effort, and do it very stable.
I am sure one could do a 1T 1Ghz shot with this board, unstable atleast.

TRC is a nice fast way to increase your Super Pi Score with this board.

AI Boost, does not work for this board...

Ntune does not work for this board either, since this board uses a non Nvidia standard bios, and instead uses the usual "Asus" looking bios.

nothing I know of, will show cas, or ram MHZ... or dividers.

Currently playing around at...

Cas 4-4-3-8-1T, TRC-3, TREF 1. all others at Auto.

take Tref to Auto, and TRC to Auto, and this is stable.
well, as stable as one can call something after 2-3 hours of testing.

This Board severly needs 2 mods.

Vcore, and Vchip.

if your really extreme and searching for alot of FSB, then find a way to do a "CPU VTT" Mod... if you can figure that out.
for me, that was the most drastic way to increase stability past 500.

will post pics and such later, including all the fun BIOS Shots.
still waiting for camera battery to recharge.

I got 1000mghz stable with 1t :P

cas4-4-4-12-20trc

Using 8500SLI OCZ Didnt even need to go over EPV, went to 2.325 volts which is actually 2.4v

[The0men]

New BIOS, 1203

Anyone know more details other than what's listed?

Also, I have always thought you need to put CPU VTT at 1.55v (max), it doesn't affect idle/load temps, helps stability at upper end of overclocking.

And one more note, 4 sticks of RAM puts ALOT of stress on the Northbridge, do you know your temps? voltage?

The cooler on the northbridge SUCKS ass, and thats bad, as this motherboard likes more volts to northbridge if you intend to use more than 2 dimms. 4 dimms running stable on this board is a difficult feat, although it seems thats the case with most 680i chipsets. I couldnt get ram over 800mghz stable because i had liquid on CPU and standard cooler on northbridge.. pissed that off, watercooled northbridge, now i have 1.55v on northbridge... and had ram 1000mghz 4-4-4-12-22trc-1t. I think my mates having the same problem now that he has watercooler his CPU without improving the rest of the coolers.

[Don_Dan]

Yes, that's exactly what I am experiencing, and which makes me think about watercooling the entire board.

[The0men]

You want to talk to Leeghoofd for information on cooling a striker board properly. But also, getting 4GBs of ram Stable on this board is an issue, and the only accounts i've heard of it working were at 800mghz or less, i havnt heard of any one getting stable at 1066. Its the mem controler, being to heavily burdened. Most people tend just to get 2GB of fast Ram, some people go for 800mghz and extremely tight timings, which is easy to achive on this board, or you can get high clocks from your ram by loosening them. But either way, anyone who wants to serious overclock the board will have far more success by watercooling the northbridge and sticking decent risers or heatsinks on the pwm chips, and just a simple active HS on the southbridge. I used swiftech mcw30 on northbridge, and Thermalright HR 09u riser on pwm chipsleft of CPU, still have stock cooling on the top PWMs and southbridge, but i might change that.

[NoSoMo]

I have an antec 900 air cooled. I have the ASUS snap on fan on the NB cooler that's at the back of the board. I run my Zalman 9500 pointed up towards the 200mm in the case. The NB sink still gets hot as hell... You'd think they'd test these things out before sending them to customers. The stock sinks on this board are horrible.

It's not like asus doesn't know about the problem. The e is the 3rd revision to this board and its sink design? Anyone near where they design these things, they should stop by and slap em around a little bit and knock some sense into them.

[The0men]

Putting all the problems aside though, once you work it out the board is pretty good. Some people though dont have a problem with the heat sinks, i personally had hell with them. Before i watercooled northbridge, i touched the heat sink to see if it was heating up, and the damn thing burnt me lol. But after those small changes its all good. And i got screen of my best so far timmings at 1t and 1000mghz for ram, could only be bothered waiting for 2 hours of orthos though.

[alexanderhuzar]

I noticed that orthos fails after about 2 hours if the northbridge is 36 degrees or warmer. Can anyone else confirm this?

[Leeghoofd]

a NB temps of 36°C we all would dream off, think you are referring to system temp which is the mobo sensor not the NB sensor, think they are not related for the crash... just bad voltages or settings...

[Don_Dan]

I noticed that orthos fails after about 2 hours if the northbridge is 36 degrees or warmer. Can anyone else confirm this?

Yes, if the Mainboard gets to 36 degrees in PC Probe, it fails, at 37 degrees my computer just shuts down...

[Leeghoofd]

Bump I have no air flow in my cubecase but the extra 3 fans on the PWM's and NB, mobo temps mostly around 30-35°C and no shutdown here...which bios are you guys running ? I'll have to try to simulate this later on and will put the 3 fans off

[The0men]

Man, to be honest my mobo sensor usually hovers around 32 degrees when I've run orthos for a while, but after a few hours i guess it might get hotter, your problem probably is your actual NB temperature, not your MB temperature, in which case your NB is going to be MILES higher than 36 degrees. Nb even at stock was my problem because i took away its only cooling, the CPU fan. Once i put liquid on northbridge as well as CPU though, np problem, and i usually run my volts insanly high, hey leeghoofd :P

[Pyr0]

new 1205 bios
ftp://ftp.asus.com.tw/pub/ASUS/mb/so...20SLI/1205.zip

[Leeghoofd]

Hope this release is better than the borked one we got for the Striker (1305), pretty useless for overclocking as it doesn't post with most previous working overclocks...

[Pyr0]

yup, just flashed and 1205 seems to be a bit crap, just like the striker bios
i've switched back to 1203 again

[gugle]

which best bios for over a dual core?